Expensive cars 'most vandalised'

A new survey reveals that the BMW Z3 is the most vandalised car in the UK, and London is the place where malicious damage is most likely to happen.

The elephant.co.uk survey of 25,000 malicious-damage claims over the past five years shows that expensive cars are most likely to be targeted by vandals.

Overall, Porsche cars are the most likely to be damaged through vandalism than any other make of vehicle.

The top four areas, by postcode, for malicious damage are in London. West central London tops the list, followed by east central London, west London, and south west London. Edinburgh and Glasgow are also in the top 10 worst-affected areas list.

Brian Martin, managing director at elephant.co.uk, said: "It would appear that certain models are more likely to be vandalised than others. Our research shows the top 10 is made up entirely of either expensive luxury cars or soft tops.

"It could be that luxury cars are targeted because of old-fashioned envy. Sadly some people are jealous of those who drive expensive cars, while in the case of convertibles, they are an easy target. It's relatively simple to slash a fabric roof or PVC window.

"But we don't want to worry car owners with these types of cars. Thankfully this sort of car crime is still relatively rare."

The BMW Z3 has been the most vandalised car over the past five years, followed by the Chrysler Crossfire and Porsche Cayanne.